Pope
Francis institutes a new celebration of Mary, Mother of the Church:
B. Mariæ Virginis, Ecclesiæ Matris, the new Memorial of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, which will be on the Monday following
Pentecost Sunday. "In a decree released on Saturday by the Congregation
for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Robert
Sarah, its Prefect, said the Pope's decision took account of the tradition
surrounding the devotion to Mary as Mother of the Church. He said the
Holy Father wishes to promote this devotion in order to "encourage the
growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious
and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety". Read it
here here. I think this is a most wonderful
timing! Very much needed.

In the current movement to reveal the violence and abuse suffered by women,
to force us all to face their unfair treatment,
to re-establish
respectful and considerate relationship towards all women, in all walks
of life - which is in itself a pretty amazing movement and absolutely
much needed - there is also in it the possibility of missing the mark,
of veering off to another bad situation, there is the temptation to
turn it into an all-out nuclear war, an aggressive escalation of confrontation
between the sexes or, as Camille Paglia said it recently : "It's open
sex war - a grisly death match that neither men nor women will win".

And this is exactly where Mary can help us tremendously!
She is both the highest embodiment of the sweetest tenderness and the
strongest courage, the most tenacious and purposeful dedication to the
good of everyone, to the salvation plan of God, whether she was able
to fully grasped it or not at the time, she did it all, to the very
end of her life on earth and much beyond, she is doing it in all her
apparitions, from Guadalupe to Lourdes and Fatima and more, she is always
reminding us to turn to her Son, to pray again and live a simple life
of love and truth and charity to others…

Praying to her always help us grow in trust and hope, which are two
virtues very much needed in our current state of affairs. I, myself,
learned a more full understanding of her last summer (and wrote about
it here here) so this is why I greatly thank
Cardinal Sarah for this new Marian feast.

So my advice to every young women today (and to older one too, myself
first of all because we are all in the same boat!) is to turn to Mary
anew, to pray to her right now, to enlist her help in juggling womanhood
and motherhood, a professional career and a personal inner growth in
courage and discernment, clarity of mind and peace of heart. By the
way, I am also advising all men of all ages to do the same, because
today is not easy for them either, and Mary can also be the strongest
source of courage for men, think of the importance of a strong and loving
and fair father for every child, think about all the saints, famous
or anonymous, from the Fathers of the Church to St Francis, St Thomas,
St Ignatius, Maximilien Kolbe, Padre Pio, John Paul II...

This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian
life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of
Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer
and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God.
....Cardinal Sarah: 'New Marian memorial aid to Christian life'

The weather is absolutely gorgeous right now in Northern California...
But the weather will change, it is normal, it is expected.
It usually fluctuates between the two poles of "nice" and "nasty"
But the real question is: Do "we" change with the weather? Possibly.
Usually we just make the most of it or we endure it.
But another season is about to start and there is the real possibility of change, for us, for the world:
the Lenten season and the Easter season...
There is the greatest change, even if it is not aways visible to the
naked eye. More to come on this soon.

March 2018 Sharing the faith…
in English:

Finding peace through a call to service in Lourdes. "She
felt ostracized and isolated in her college community, where her strong
Catholic beliefs and her desire to live and practice her faith were an
unwelcome anomaly. A nightly event was venting her frustrations to her
family back in Nashville. “I was crying every day on the phone with my
mom,” recalled Kerman. ... and her mother suggested going to Lourdes to
help in the baths. Read more about it
here (found on the diocese of Nashville). It is a very moving story.

Walk For Life West Coast! It was last
Saturday here in San Francisco and it was a great Walk and I have photos
to prove it.... To think that it started 14 years ago and to see how this
movement, this awareness, with such crucial ethical and societal consequences,
has spread is absolutely wonderful. See more
here

A remote Irish island gets a 'Star Wars' rebranding
- and not everybody's happy about that. Very well written. Such
an interesting topic. And a crucial one too. I highly recommend this LA
Times article. But, in a nutshell, I can tell you that it is about a small
Irish island which used to be a monastery about 1400 years ago and which
has attracted visitors because of its historical heritage and stunning
wild life location, but which is now coping with followers of the latest
- and huge - money making film & merchandise saga: "Like a virus, the
imagery and branding of the Star Wars commercial franchise with all its
plastic merchandising has contaminated and superseded the history and
identity of the Skellig," An Taisce declared in its letter to the minister.
See the article
here

It present such an interesting paradox: what matters most, history
or religion? How much does it matter that the lines are often blurred
between visiting a church as a historical site or entering a church as
a believer? What about the ones who entered as non-believers and experienced
a profound conversion? What about all the beautiful European churches
or monasteries which are visited now by hordes of global tourists but
only for their historical/artistic dimensions? How do we know the hearts
of anyone? Aren't we supposed to leave it to God. And since conversions
happen BECAUSE of his grace, isn't our responsibility to encourage access
to specific holy sites, to facilitate them (and watch out for them)?

So what do we do? Put police and security officers to guard them? I am certainly glad that police officers were able to stop right away the femen
terrorist grabbing the infant Jesus from the outdoor crèche… What a horrible act, what a blasphemy this woman was committing… It made me cry.
But I understand that there are great chances that she might not have been completely aware of what she did, since anger and hate are such poor advisors,
so often used by the enemy. So my second reaction was to pray for her conversion.

But back to this island of Skellig Mickael. What can be done to this Star
Wars rebranding, as the article called it. Limit the number of entries,
as they do in some national parks? Or sell costly ticket for limited access
to the island? Another solution would be to create on a near-by island
a "reproduction" of it, you can even turn it into an educational/entertainment
affair, as they did with the caves in Ardeche… This dilemma between Christianity
and paganism has been there since the first Pentecost. The holiness of
a Christian site is because of Christ and since the beginning, some of
them were built on top of pagan sites. On the other hand, Skeelig Mickael
illustrates the reverse: what was once a Christian place can become pagan
again and Unesco will not be enough to save it. My own suggestion, if
the MAIN reason d'être of this island is truly its RELIGIOUS one, if we
really do care, us, Christians, that this particular site does not get
its spiritual and eschatological meaning highjacked, then I would advise:
organize monthly Christian pilgrimages there, plus weekly liturgical services,
and especially hold daily rosaries, making sure to invoke the help of
the Most Holy Trinity to control and convert every one present, from Star
Wars fans to pious prayer group members, since we all need a constant
conversion, since metanoia is a daily lifelong process… That's my two
cents.

Rabbi Jason Sobel - Endorses The Shepherd
I did watch the video and found it interesting but sometimes odd, I'm not sure I can put my finger on why. For instance, there is one important difference from the Catholic tradition which says that Mary brought forth the baby without pain. Protestants - and apparently current Californian Jewish Christians - miss this specific detail which is an important detail, it is much more than a detail for that matter. Heresies are born on small misinterpretations… And this one is resting on an incomplete understanding of Mary's position in God's plan of salvation. Nevertheless, there are other details in this video which were very attractive to me, which enlarged my own understanding of the Shepherds at the manger… the fact that they must have been right around the corner (which explains why they were the first ones to arrive) but especially that they were shepherds handling the sacrificial lambs for the temple which allowed them (after the vision of the angel) to follow the star and recognize the " baby in a manger in swaddling clothes " as the Messiah. I tried to see where else this particular angle was mentioned and could not find much information but it certainly seems plausible.
So I am posting it here

How to Respond When You Meet Suffering
BY THERESA THOMAS DECEMBER "As I sat looking out the shaded glass windows which overlooked the busy downtown area where I was receiving this treatment,
I remember feeling amazed that as I sat, literally fighting for my life, my world falling apart, not only from cancer but being exhausted having just
had a new baby right before my diagnosis, the rest of the world seemed not to care one bit. People carried about their normal activities with
no perception about my own personal agony."…
Read more here

Our Lady of Fatima and a Theological Reading of History
by Bishop Robert Barron.
The series of Fatima appearances is one of the most extraordinary in the
history of the Church-and it has also beguiled political and cultural
commentators outside the ambit of the Church. This particular visitation
of Mary took place at the height of the First World War, which signaled
the end of Enlightenment confidence in the perfectibility of the human
being, and in the year of the Bolshevik Revolution, which would exert,
for most of the twentieth-century, a massively deleterious influence Read
more here
here on Catholic World Report site.

Fr. Dwight on Catholic Liturgy: "Would Jesus Recognize Catholic
Worship?"
"When people criticize liturgical worship they assume that Jesus was a
simple, wandering preacher-a rustic carpenter from Nazareth. Jesus is
the equivalent of Pastor Bob from the Backwoods Bible Church who has studied
for two years at Buckboard Bible College and then set up his church. He's
a homely country man with a sincere message and a good heart. He goes
in for no frills religion" Read more here
here on Fr. Longenecker's site.

Black Friday and Good Friday
Every argument is a theological argument, and the vulgarity and futility
of Black Friday reveals a philosophical-theological crisis at the heart
of our culture. Its called "Materialism". Its easy enough to see the consumerism
of Black Friday and say this is materialism but the behaviors are a symptom,
not the disease. Read more here
here at Patheos.com

"To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love".
On the essential need we have (every one of us) for love and reconciliation
and, at the same time, on the straightforward commandment of Jesus to
love our neighbor, here is a very short but very clear and effectual article:
Read it
here at Catholic365.com

Ascension press videos: Fr. Mike the particular judgment vs the final judgment
The 4 last things: death, judgment, heaven or hell… Fr. Mike's videos
always managed to be very straightforward but very engaging, clear and
concise and this one is on tough subject. Go check it out
here

The Greatest Gift You Could Give
The gift of yourself in contrast with the filling up of ego. "The manifestations of ego have produced the bitter fruit of immorality and the confusion of
conscience in our time. All manifestations of pride prevent fulfillment by the Holy Spirit..."
By Michael Brown: read more here: here on the Spirit Daily site.

Black Elk, the Lakota medicine man turned Catholic teacher, is promoted for sainthood
By Damian Costello | Jon M. Sweeney
"Looks Twice mentioned his hope of sainthood for his grandfather. "I felt a tingling, like this was a divine moment,"
Mr. Thiel remembers. "Never before had I heard someone speak of Black Elk that way..."
Read more on America Magazine on Black Elk, a Catholic teacher and a Lakota leader.
here

THE DEDICATION TO MARY IN HONOR OF THE FATIMA ANNIVERSARY :
It was a wonderful exceptional day in SF and I put all my photos on this page
here

CHANGING THE HUMAN HEART: If you say "pray" it almost
feels like that's too passive. We do need to pray, though, for many things,
and many people, but mostly for wisdom, because I don't know if anyone
has the answer...
Read more of what Elizabeth Scalia just wrote on facebook, following
the terrible news from Las Vegas: here

"A better approach to LIFE and SUFFERING" or what I
learned in this summer of 2017, where a variety of things happened, some
obviously good and others not so... and what to do about it. I was walking
daily (per doctor's orders) and it did not take a Nobel prize winner to
see how beneficient it was for my physical and mental health. I begged
for help for the not so good things and wrote here about it. Hope, trust
and obedience, patience and fortitude, kindness and generosity... I can
see why these are "virtues" to be practiced because the truth is that
they don't always come up automatically. But they sure make a big difference...
Well, I hope my ponderings make sense to others too
here

In May 2017, while in the French
Alps, I took this wonderful course on-line on Mary and I enjoyed it so
much, it stayed with me for so long afterwards (actually, I am still pondering
it) that I created this page on Mary Queen of Heaven and Mary
the Queen Mother here .

It started from my notes on the videos and
is the result of my own reflexions and my own photos on this subject.
The course was called “The Bible and the Virgin Mary” and
it was offered by the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology and I highly
recommend it. I only got their workbook to accompany the videos, I took
notes as much as I could and I plan to order Dr. Scott Hahn's book "Hail,
Holy Queen" very soon. To go check their site, please go to
Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology.
The older I become, the more I appreciate Mary's help in deepening
my faith...
The photo above is mine, taken last July, it is a detail from the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal, rue
du Bac, Paris.

The Prayer of Forgiveness by Anne DeSantis.
The Act of Contrition is the prayer we, as Catholics, pray after we confess
our sins during the Sacrament of Reconciliation. "My God, I am sorry for
my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good,
I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things…." A priest
recently suggested to me to pray the "Act of Contrition" during those
times I need to say "I'm sorry" to God in between receiving the Sacrament.
I think as human beings we all have times of failure in our walk. Those
challenges occur with our families, at our jobs and daily interactions.
It is not always easy to "keep a watch" on our speech, judgments, and
reactions. We wish to be patient, loving and slow to react, but we seem
to slip. For the times we lose our temper, can't forgive someone or participate
in negativity, we need the Lord to guide us. We need the Holy Spirit to
enlighten our hearts. Slowing our speech will help us...
Read it all here
sur le site de Catholic Stand.com

In my French column, I posted a short passage from an
article on Andre Frossard's conversion and I love it
so much that I will translate it here, I find it very powerful and I can
certainly relate to it: "This light, which I did not see with the
eyes of my body, was not the type which lights up a room neither was it
the one which tans us but it was like a teaching light and as the burning
brightness of truth. It definitively reversed the natural order of things.
Since I was able to catch a glimpse of it, I can say that for me God alone
exists, and the rest is only an assumption"....
Found on the French site of Aleteia.fr
here

I wrote recently on the joy of hiking to the Chapel of Sales
(in Sixt Fer-A-Cheval) and the joy of relationships, of walking,
talking and praying on my wonderful but short trip to Paris and
you can see it here

To see my own reflexions on Pentecost and the Holy Spirit and
a Trinitarian Prayer , go check it out
here

A short commentary of mine on Options, freedom and faith,
this most amazing combination of strength and freedom, options and choices,
obedience and trust, brought by faith and confidence in the grace of God
and in the Church founded by His Son...
Read it all here
here

The Bible and the Virgin Mary: Mary as You've Never
Seen Her! During the month of May, the month of Mary, you can sign up
and watch a series of video lessons on the Virgin Mary. Videos and talks
created by the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology. Illustrated by
great paintings and frescoes, they weaved Mary's part in salvation history
from Scripture and commentaries, devotions and apparitions. I've only
watched the first couple of lessons but I highly recommend them. As it
says on their web site: A THEOLOGICAL MASTERPIECE : The Bible and the
Virgin Mary is based upon the book Hail, Holy Queen, by Dr. Scott Hahn.
It teaches Catholics how Marian doctrine and devotion are firmly rooted
in Scripture and answers common objections from non-Catholics. Dr. Hahn,
is a popular speaker and teacher, a professor of Theology at Franciscan
University of Steubenville and the founder and president of the Saint
Paul Center for Biblical Theology. Check it out
here

Recently I came across a most wonderful little gem of an article on Mary. It is written from a very peculiar - and unique - angle:
it comes from the heart and mind and soul of Saint Joseph! I had never read anything like this and I was quite moved.
Here is the very beginning, the first paragraph of this article, and the link where to find it: Mary in the Eyes of Joseph
The following is a personal narrative by Fr. Joseph Homick on the life of St. Joseph"When I first met Mary, she captivated me instantly without a word;
I had never seen such pure loveliness in all my life. In her modesty,
she mostly kept her eyes lowered, but on the occasions when she raised
them to meet mine, I could swear I was looking through the gates of Heaven.
I cannot explain this. I kept asking myself, who is she? Then, I dreamed
the impossible dream that someday she would be my wife, and I would protect
and provide for her…
Found on the site of "The Contemplatives of Saint Joseph", in their newsletter
#3, which you can read in the pdf format or you can download it here

I just saw a terrific movie last night: Ignatius of Loyola! I
saw it in San Francisco and do check the trailer, do go see it, I loved
it and found it so inspiring. Faith and hope, courage and discernment, are
beautiful things, and very contagious too, which is why we should not keep
them silent. Thank you, Star of the Sea and Ignatius Press! See more
here on the early years of this amazing saint, his conversion from
soldier to a beggar, a pilgrim, a preacher, shedding everything of his earlier
life and becoming a true disciple of Christ, helping and guiding others
toward Him .We are shown the very beginning and formation of his famous
"spiritual exercises", in very moving scenes, his spiritual temptations,
and a fascinating trial with the Dominicans... All the movie takes place
before the actual founding of the Company of Jesus.

Gil Bailie offers his masterwork in God's Gamble: in
it, Bailie shares the fruits of a lifetime of patient reflection upon
the innovative anthropological hypotheses of Girard and also the fearless
theological explorations of Hans Urs von Balthasar…In a spirit of humility,
Bailie investigates what we can know about both the origin and the destiny
of humankind, thanks to the revelation of the Trinity in history. It is
a wondrous history that becomes all the more fascinating as we continue
to learn more about it through evolutionary science, cultural anthropology,
and theological contemplation. See
here

Saint Michael, pray for us! I am weary
of the storm around us nowdays, of the anger and fury swirling around,
of the mean, vulgar and disparaging comments being hurled... and I'm not
sure what to do. I am certain that I should not add oil to the fire, that
I should not join in this particular dance, but I do know who to turn
to for help! Saint Michael, my patron saint, pray for us today! The icon
was in my room at San Damiano, last week-end, the border is my own, just
to outline it more for this collage, the prayer and the quote below are
from "St Michael and the angels" Tan publisher: St Francis of Sales wrote,
three centuries ago, that "Veneration of Saint Michael is the greatest
remedy against despising the rights of God, against insubordination, skepticism
and infidelity"…

The people who challenged my atheism most were drug addicts and
prostitutes. By Chris Arnade. "During that time I counted
myself an atheist and nodded in agreement as a wave of atheistic fervor
swept out of the scientific community and into the media, led by Richard
Dawkins. I saw some of myself in him: quick with arguments, uneasy with
emotions, comfortable with logic, able to look at any ideology or any
thought process and expose the inconsistencies". Read it all
here in the Guardian.

Stunned by Providence… by Michele Szekely. This is a short essay
of mine on Divine Providence and how one line from a (very unusual) movie
startled me. "But "Les Innocentes" is a little gem too, or so it turned
out for me. I must admit I found a certain humor in the fact that my own
faith in Divine Providence was deepened in that particular flight! I have
known for some times now..." Read it all
here .

Today's Gospel Matthew 6:24-34:
26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather
into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more
value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit
to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider
the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; 29
yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today
is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe
you, O men of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, `What
shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' 32 For
the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that
you need them all. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things shall be yours as well.

It is especially during troubled times where confusion is spread daily
and panic, fear and anger seem to agitate and dominate so many hearts
and minds and souls that we need to hold on fast to the words of Christ,
him, the Word of God, the Prince of Peace, the Truth, the Life and the
Way. It is certainly a good time to practice charity towards our neighbor,
to concentrate on fortitude towards ourselves; to deepen our own trust
in God the Creator of the world, grow in love of Jesus Christ, his Son,
the Redeemer of the world, exercise openness to the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifyer
of the world. O Most Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us all!

January: Last week-end I went to San Damiano, a Franciscan retreat center.
I took some photos of the place and the grounds and I put them all together
here with a few comments and the
famous prayer of Saint Francis! I'm going back soon...

5 warning signs of a toxic faith (by Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble):
- Do you have a hard time talking about faith without bringing up politics?
I believe this is something that really pushes young people away from
the Church (especially in the United States where neither party adequately
represents the Catholic worldview). People who obsess about politics,
make villains of political figures, and speak about their ideological
opponents in a dehumanizing way do a disservice to their own spiritual
life as well as that of others (…)
- Can you have a conversation about faith without mentioning the words "liberal"
or "conservative" or one of the many other labels we use to disparage
those we deem unfit to be Catholic? Do you regularly talk about the people
or groups you consider to be your ideological enemies? If our faith life
has become focused on other people who are doing it wrong, then we are
doing it wrong...
(Read it all
here on the site of aleteia.org)

No Silence for Christ! is my own commentary on Scorsese's
last movie, which I have not seen and do not plan to see. I am not sure
how useful such a commentary can be so it is better to call it a reflection
on the horror of apostasy and the dangers of graphic violence, when all
morphed together in a fascinating and attractive (I assume) story... You
can read it
here and you can send me comments via facebook.

If you have already checked some of the pages on this site, if you know
me via facebook or in real life, then you must know I am prolife, pro
children, pro family... But I was thinking of all this again today as
I was reading an article on the French site of Aleteia. It is using one
of the little story I myself used once in an article I wrote on this very
subject (back in 2008):
- One I called
The 3 stages of life where I described the stage in the womb, the
stage in the world and the eternal life in ONE GOD.
- The other one
Life continuum uses an ultra sound shot and an icône to illustrate
the two stages (the one in the womb and the eternal one) which are a bit
more "unknown" to us. I don't remember where I found this "twins
in the womb story"but it is such a good one to illustrate the various
stages of life.
Re-reading all this today, I thought that to be more precise I should
say that: I am pro life, but
before it all, I am pro eternal life! It is important
to articulate one's world view very clearly and to put all things in the
appropriate perspective, right? Well, lucky for us, young children have
a way of reminding us of what is truly essential, sometimes
in the funniest and even slightly bizarre manner (see photo of children
in the snow). They had been working both on the snowman, then suddenly
she throws herself on the ground and rolls around in the snow giggling
so happily that it brings a smile to my face everytime I think about it...
The smile of a child, their energy and innocence, the beauty of the snow
and the mountains - or the immensity of the Pacific Ocean - and faith
and prayers, all these work as terrific physical and spiritual reboots
to me. In today's context (mid November 2016), this is exactly what is
needed. I don't think I mentioned it yet but I am in the French Alps,
I've been here 2 weeks already, and we are both going back to California
in a few days.

For an alphabetical listing of articles and prayers on this site
please see : Site Map